258 BIG GAME FIELDS 



gaged trying to take advantage of the snow 

 while it lasted, but it was as if we were deserted; 

 left alone, there seemed no life of any kind at 

 least we met none. A gloom settled down over 

 the canon. We looked at each other and read 

 what passed through our minds. Somewhere 

 away over yonder there is a little village, and 

 around the fireplace of one little wooden house 

 are bright, eager faces, perhaps calling to mind 

 some absent one. 



One night I awoke and sat up in my blankets. 

 I was conscious of being awakened by some 

 strange noise. Pulling on my boots, I stepped 

 out of my tent into the night. It was cold and 

 clear, a pale moon peeped wanderingly over the 

 ridge, and the stars glittered and glistened down 

 through the tall avenues of pines. A solemn 

 silence prevailed that was but accentuated by the 

 booming of the stream far below. Five slow, 

 languorous minutes dropped by, wiien, clear and 

 distinct, but commencing low, came the howl of 

 one great lone wolf, slowly rising with his deep- 

 throated voice until the very hills seemed to shiver 

 and the canon echoed all through with the roar 

 when it slowly dropped into a long, drawn-out 

 wail and died away. The death-like stillness that 

 followed the howl settled everywhere. The thin, 



